Lord of the Rings Themed Spoon

[THOaken]

Hello, everyone. I'm proud to present for my 1000th post an almost finished project, a Sycamore spoon based on the tower of Barad-dur from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I'm very happy with the shape, and for a beginner, I think this is a big step up. I hope it's something not many of you have seen before. This one will be a tooled finish and I'd like to ask you a few questions.

First, though, I have a few major concerns with carving, however. It's mainly problems with "carvibility", despite the fact I carve greenwood. I'm not entirely sure if this is a problem everyone has or if it's just me, but I find it very difficult to carve sometimes. My work is always covered in bumps and ridges. Sometimes, if I'm carving the one way I'll get a bump which is very hard to carve, which means I have to turn around and try to carve it away, but that then creates more marks. It's hard to explain. I also find that my work is littered with "stringy" shavings that I just can't remove. Seeing as I'm making this a tooled finished I want it to be as neat as possible, almost mathematically accurate with straight lines, but I find that very hard to do. You can see the piece is covered in scores, marks and many messy bits. I think the most concerning problem lies with the fact I don't entirely know which way to carve some of the time. On one part of the spoon it can be very easy to carve, but then even in the same place I find a spot that's too difficult to carve. Sometimes I have to do really stupid hand movements to carve a section because it won't carve the other way which results in a cut or two. And the last problem is surprisingly with my crook knife and hollowing out the bowl. My hands are covered in blisters, and that's not entirely due to the bowl carving alone. I've found it strangely hard to carve this spoon, however I'm not sure why because my tools haven't been used that much. I even switched Crosslandkelly's hook knife that he gave to me and it was still tough. I'd be lying if the wood didn't feel like stone.

Out with the concerns and on to the questions. As this will be a tooled finish, how do I go about neatening it up? Due to the concerns I've listed above it's really not as easy as carving the surface clean. And what do you about fingerprints? Would oiling help? I want to leave it as a tooled finish but right now it's too messy to justify it. I just need to neaten it up, glue the eye in place and perhaps oil it.

All these concerns aside, I'm very happy with this and I hope in the future I'll have no problems carving, but right now my hands are red!

 

[Shewie]

I've never read the books or seen the films but that's looking very good, something a bit different

 

[atlatlman]

Brilliant looking job. I like all the bumps and ridges. It gives it a stone look about it.

 

[JohnC]

"make me a spoon worthy of Mordor.."

I like the shape.. looks very neat symmetry..

 

[THOaken]

Thanks for all the comments so far everyone. It's not all rosy though. I'm still very much a beginner and there's a few problems to iron out. I've made a very quick video presenting one of said problems.

[video=youtube;4C2CUCXIC9M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C2CUCXIC9M&feature=youtu.be[/video]

It would seem to be a blunt hook knife, but it's barely been used. And in general my hands are full of blisters. It seems like I'm doing something wrong. The amount of force I had to use was ridiculous.

And would appreciate any tips on getting a proper tooled finish and how to go about it all.

 

[Clouston98]

Nice spoon. As for blisters, If you do lots of stuff with tools your hands will naturally harden. With loads of fire lighting, chopping, varying and whatnot I've now got asbestos hands, which I do like, and being quite young there harder than most adults round here. For the carving it's just practice and knowing the right cuts, the slower the better really, it gives a nicer finish, and the wood itself is irrelevant in a way, not completely, but you can carve a seasoned log of hardwood or a green log of softwood, it's just different hardness, but pushing harder will help. Also a stump is good for carving on, you don't tend to slip as much and if you do the knife goes into the stump anyway, it also allows you to get into nooks and crannies that is more tricky when doing it in your hands. Hope this helps!

 

[Clouston98]

Just an extra:

In that video some of those cutting techniques could give you a nasty cut! If you put the wood on the stump and ( an made indent in the stump helps) push your spoon on the stump and hold it in firm then your knife will cut easier as the spoon itself won't move as much, and hard to describe but try to scoop the wood out with the crook knife like I've cream. I'm no expert and my carvings are functional but ugly, but I think this could help you .

 

[Macaroon]

Do your roughing out with the wood as green as you like and as soon as you get to the level of detail where it starts getting stringy or difficult to carve clean without leaving unwanted marks, put it to one side and let it dry and season a little, then go back to it with very sharp tools and go at it with a very fine touch; small delicate cuts will take longer but give superior results, and with the wood dried and seasoned "tear out" will be less of a problem.

Cameron gives good advice above about carving on a block or stump; you can ct shapes into the top of your block so you can sit the workpiece securely and firmly for when you need to apply the force you mention. With practice you'll find the need for such forceful carving will not be neccessary. There comes a time when you can only learn from your own experience - there's only so much you can get from reading and asking questions!

 

[THOaken]

So if I let it dry a little while it'll become less stringy and cleaner to carve? I'm not sure how to explain it but what I want it basically for the spoon to be planar. Instead of the top of the handle being dented I would like it to be be one straight flushed surface. Is that possible?

Edit: And the reason I had to hold the hook knife that way because it was like trying to carve through rock any other way. I know it's ridiculous and I would probably cut myself, but it's the only way to apply enough force. What I don't understand at all is how in videos, such as Ben Orford's, he carves it so easily.

 

[Macaroon]

People like Ben make it look easy because they've had years of practice, that's why! And if you are applying the force you describe you're not just going to cut yourself, you'll maim yourself, so take the advice and carve on a block - you can make all sorts of shapes into/onto the top of it and rest your work securely in and on the block............much better than losing a finger!

Just because a tool hasn't been used much doesn't mean it's sharp, it means it hasn't been used a lot! Have you read the tutorials on sharpening and made yourself a strop? have you got decent stropping compound? From what you've written it doesn't sound to me as though your tools are sharp enough..............

Yes, the drier the wood the harder it is to carve but by the time you let it season it should only be fine cuts that are required for the finishing. A good thing to do is when you get to a point where you're finding it difficult to make a particular cut, put the work to one side and get yourself a try stick and just practice that particular shape/cut 'till you get the hang of it. You should definitely find it easier to get good clean finishing cuts on drier wood.

 

[THOaken]

Just look at the difference. I just can't get it like that picture on the right. Whenever I try to carve straight down to make the surface completley straight and flat I just end up carving into the ridges and making more. The wood of my spoon is stringy and messy in comparison. It almost doesn't look like wood.

 

[Macaroon]

Looks just like wood to me.................Personally, it looks to me as though a) your tools aren't as sharp as they could be, and b) you're trying to cut too much/too deeply.

You just have to keep doing it again and again 'till it comes right; I don't know any shortcuts to learning crafts and skills......

Get yourself a length of Hazel or Birch, cut it into three lengths and with one of them make yourself a trystick; two weeks later do another the same and see the difference in the wood; then do the same again with the third piece after a month, and see the difference again.............Trial and error, loads of practice, sharp tools and then more practice....................

It's a bit like learning to paint or playing an instrument, it takes time and work - you can read up on it and take all the good advice you can get but you'll only learn with the application of the development of muscle memory and all the practice you can get.

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

May be you trying too take too much wood out in one go.just slow it down and take out little bits at a time.your spoon knife will always work better when your cutting with the grain of the wood so try too take out the bulk of the spoon that way then shave the cross section bits off.take it easy and slow it down matey.lovely looking spoon by the way and a nice story too it aswell.

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

Ps try not get frustrated pal.lasserated my flexer tendon earlier on in the year with a wood chisel.ooeration and 11 weeks rehab n it still ain't right.slow down!

 

[crosslandkelly]

That looks like it's going to be a great looking spoon.

 

[Clouston98]

It's a bit like learning to paint or playing an instrument, it takes time and work - you can read up on it and take all the good advice you can get but you'll only learn with the application of the development of muscle memory and all the practice you can get.

Seriously good piece of advice!

What's even harder is carving a spoon in the woods, no pencil or sandpaper or stump or tutorials to look on just blades and wood- that requires honed skills, as does performing any craft when you rely upon yourself, which is why I personally try to practice things in the way they'll be used. I also agree with Mac about it looking like you are trying to cut to deeply. Either way keep practicing and you'll only get better, good luck

 

[Paulm]

Where you are getting the ridges try a shallow cut from the opposite direction, gentle shavings. The grain of the wood will often mean it will cut cleanly in one direction but not the other. As said by others, let it dry a bit, maybe a a day or three, and then try going back to it and taking shallow gentle cuts with a freshly honed knife. Some might think it's cheating (!) but you can also use the knife blade as a scraper to gently even out the surface of the wood as a final stage.

On the bowl, I find the spoon knives cut best across the grain, with a scooping action as said before.

I find it very tiring on the hands too and generally do a half hour or hour or so and then come back to it after a while, short sessions build up the hands and finger strength over time.

Hope that helps and like the style of the spoon

Cheers, Paul

 

[bushwacker bob]

Where you are getting the ridges try a shallow cut from the opposite direction, gentle shavings. The grain of the wood will often mean it will cut cleanly in one direction but not the other.
Cheers, Paul

Thats the solution. and try just running a knife steel around the inside edge of your spoon knife, the sharper it is, the easier it will be and spoon knife edges can roll almost undetectably IME. try using the spoon knife I gave you, just a different tool can make a difference.

 

[Whittler Kev]

I get rid of the ridges by scraping the wood by having the knife cutting edge at 90º to the wood.
Blisters - now you know where you get them, cover the areas with gaffa tape. I have baby soft teachers hands, but don't get blisters by covering them

 

[Stew]

Just look at the difference. I just can't get it like that picture on the right. Whenever I try to carve straight down to make the surface completley straight and flat I just end up carving into the ridges and making more. The wood of my spoon is stringy and messy in comparison. It almost doesn't look like wood.

Can I just check that you understand how cutting the grain of the wood is going to influence the cutting direction? I don't wish to patronise but if you don't know then I can sort something to illustrate it.

Looking at those pictures, it looks like you're trying to take too much wood out at once on some of the cuts and also going in the wrong direction for other cuts. With the right technique I think you could clean that up quite nicely.

Also, what state is your knife blade in? If you run the edge along your thumb nail does it bite all the way or does it skate off at any point?